17/10/2015 – Bradfield Rovers FC versus Kelvedon Social FC
ESSEX & SUFFOLK BORDER FOOTBALL LEAGUE – DIVISION ONE
BRADFIELD ROVERS FC: 1. KELVEDON SOCIAL FC: 3.
Date: Saturday 17th October 2015. Venue: The Playing Field, Bradfield.
I had originally selected a top of Division One clash for my weekly match report which was due to be between Wormingford Wanderers FC and Coggeshall Town FC Reserves however with the visitors unable to raise a team the match outcome will now be subject to a decision from the League Management Committee. Instead, I went over to Bradfield, for the first time as a match reporter, to watch Bradfield Rovers FC and newly promoted Kelvedon Social FC also in a Division One clash and I don’t think anyone could have gone home after watching a very good attacking game with the visitors just managing to hang on to all three points.
The Match Official for this game was John Watson and we both remarked on how good the playing surface looked, considering this is a public village playing field.
Kelvedon Social FC kicked off and by retaining possession they immediately put pressure on the home defence with Finch getting an early feel of the ball whilst his long clearance was played back to his opposite number, Nial. With five minutes gone Bradfield were awarded the first free-kick when Tilley fouled Ball, Bolingbroke took the free-kick finding the head of Dawson but not troubling the keeper. A minute later and the pace of the Kelvedon attack caught the home defence flat-footed with Dawson fouling Brewster and was perhaps lucky not to have been cautioned having conceded a penalty. MARTIN YOUNG stepped up and fairly hammered the ball goal-wards where keeper Finch got a strong hand to the ball when diving to his right but he could not prevent the ball entering the roof of the net for the opening goal. Home skipper Bolingbroke tried his luck getting forward to evade three tackles before passing wide to Farthing who moved the ball onto his left foot however the shot at goal was weak as Nial fielded the ball. Nial then sent a long forward ball wide to the left side where MARTIN YOUNG controlled and set off down the left wing at pace beating full-back Moore before running at goal and slotting the ball past the advancing keeper, Finch, for a fine individual goal and the visitors were two goals up inside the first ten minutes.
You might expect a team to capitulate after these two early set-backs but credit to Bradfield Rovers they continued to push forward and caused enough problems for the visiting defence. Nial fielded the ball from the feet of Sanders then Bolingbroke worked a lofted ball into the path of Sanders whose volley was held by Nial who had suddenly become the busier of the two keepers. Canavan received a warning from the referee for a poor challenge on Farthing on the half-way line and Bolingbroke did likewise on Brewster but the home skipper set another move going getting the ball forward to Ainger who played the ball wide to the over-lapping Moore but his cross was cleared out of play. Bolingbroke received a caution for dissent after continuing to remonstrate with the referee after another tackling incident in the build up to the last home attack. Bradfield despite being two goals down had certainly raised their game and put pressure of the Kelvedon defence who did not always look comfortable especially when the tricky Bolingbroke set up a cross towards Sanders who was only inches away from connecting with the cross-field ball.
At the half hour point the game had settled down with both teams trying to build decent attacks with defences defending confidently rather than being rushed into the early errors that led to the Kelvedon goals. Gaffney embarked on a fine run out of defence carrying the ball from his own penalty area to deep into the Kelvedon half before releasing a pass that was too heavy for Simpson to reach and with play breaking the other way Young drifted round defender Richardson and sent a low cross into the six yard box where Brewster nudged the ball on to Fisher who should have scored, however, despite as firm connection the ball hit a defender standing on the goal-line and the home team breathed a sigh of relief. A poor clearance from keeper Finch fell at the feet of Young who tried a cheeky lobbed effort from forty yards trying to catch the keeper off his line but the ball flew harmlessly over the cross-bar, a decent effort though! When Burton went forward for a Kelvedon corner his far post header fell to Brewster who snatched at his shot dragging the ball into the side netting from close range.
As we approached half-time Kelvedon had picked up the pace of the game again, a Young cross found Brewster whose presence, not for the first time, caused confusion inside the penalty area and as players piled in Matthams was injured when falling over several players. Moore pushed forward for Bradfield crossing towards Sanders but Burton intervened conceding a corner, taken by Richardson but headed out to Farthing whose first time shot was straight at the keeper standing on his line. Bradfield continued their attacks and when Ball found space he sent a dipping shot from twenty-five yards that keeper, Nial expertly tipped over the cross-bar for a corner kick. Sanders took the corner kick from the left side and NATHAN AINGER ghosted past some static defenders to head firmly past the Kelvedon keeper who was rooted to his line and this goal was just reward for the home team who had worked hard to get back into this game that at one early stage could so easily have caved in.
HALF-TIME: 1 – 2
Bradfield restarted the match after the half-time break with no substitutions from either, team and having worked the ball patiently forward a strong defensive tackle was made by Tilley. Young received a caution for a foul on Bolingbroke and could not really complain having been warned in the first half for that type of indiscretion. Bradfield were seeing more of the ball but were rushing their attacking play to an extent that the final ball was lacking any real threat. Sanders beat the off-side trap, took on two defenders and struck the ball goal-wards where it hit the right hand upright and spun agonisingly across the goal-line to be cleared by Canavan. Sanders then waltzed through a retreating defence but struck the ball straight at Nial who saved on his goal-line, a ball placed anywhere else would surely have been a goal. Just as Bradfield thought they could score an equaliser the visitors struck when a long ball was hit downfield, Brewster ran in to challenge keeper Finch who had advanced to the edge of his penalty area. When both players collided the ball fell into space and it was MICHAEL BREWSTER who reacted quickest to lob the ball over the retreating defenders and into the unguarded net with Finch remonstrating with the referee for what could have been determined as a raised boot by Brewster in the initial challenge for the bouncing ball.
As we approached the hour mark Brewster picked up a needless caution for dissent when disagreeing with a throw-in decision made by the home club linesman and Bradfield broke forward to cause problems at the other end. Ball and Johnson collided inside the penalty area, a melee ensued, the whistle blew, was it a penalty to Bradfield or a free-kick to Kelvedon. After a moment of mayhem the referee awarded a free-kick to the visitors explaining that the home player had fouled the visitors, player first which resulted in the retaliatory action. As Bradfield continued their attacking threat, Sanders dragged a decent effort wide of goal having been put through by Ball and with twenty minutes to go I started to think about my Man-of-the-Match choice but to be honest I was stumped! Kelvedon replaced Fisher with Ketteridge and keeper Nial made a great save to deny Simpson who had been set up by Sanders.
When Tilley dived to try to head the ball away mid-way in his half the ball struck his arm, Gaffney took the free-kick finding the head of Dawson whose firm header was saved at point-blank range by Nial and as Bradfield pushed forward again Sanders played the ball wide to Bolingbroke whose cross was met on the full by Ainger only for Nial to stretch out a trailing foot to save on his goal-line. With ten minutes to go Brown replaced, Long for the visitors and Brewster was perhaps fortunate not to be cautioned again when he deliberately handled a cross-field ball to stop a Bradfield attack. A fiercely driven rising free-kick from Richardson flew inches wide with Nial well beaten and Bradfield replaced Moore with Boyland reverting to playing three at the back in a last ditch effort to get a point. A well struck shot from Gaffney forced Nial to save once again, clutching the ball at the second attempt and both teams made their final substitutions with Lee replacing Farthing for Bradfield and Newstead replacing Young to play out the final minutes.
FULL TIME: 1 – 3
After ten minutes Kelvedon were two goals ahead and you felt that this game could end up as a rout but credit to the home team for working hard and playing some decent attacking football in an effort to get back in the game which they did just before half-time. Despite a bit of controversy over the third Kelvedon goal, the home team kept plugging away and but for an inspired second half performance from the visiting keeper may have deserved at least a share of the points. Both teams deserve credit for the manner in which they approached the game, playing as teams, few incidences of real dissent despite a caution each for that infringement and just wanting to get on with the game which had plenty of scoring chances for both teams.
As I have said above I was really struggling for a Man-of-the-Match player, Bolingbroke led his team well with Ainger, Sanders and Farthing causing problems, goal-scorers Young (2) and Brewster were likewise involved in the visitors attacks but looking back over the last twenty minutes one player stood out, visiting keeper Nial with numerous telling saves to deny the home team that deserved share of the points.
Teams:
BRADFIELD ROVERS FC: Colours: Claret & Blue Shirts, Sky Blue Shorts & Claret Socks.
Ashley Finch., Joshua Moore., Stephen Richardson., Nicholas Bolingbroke., Ryan Dawson., Paul Gaffney., Thomas Farthing., Stephen Ball., Nathan Ainger., Luke Sanders., Thomas Simpson.
Manager: Craig Dawson.
Used Substitutes: James Lee., James Boyland.
KELVEDON SOCIAL FC Colours: Yellow & Black Shirts, Black Shorts & Black Socks.
Richard Nial., Matthew Canavan., Jordan Johnson., Jay Matthams., Kieran Burton., Rob Tilley., Martin Young., Ross Catchpole., Dan Fisher., Michael Brewster., Ross Long.
Manager: Craig Jay.
Used Substitutes: Mark Newstead., Shane Ketteridge., Kye Brown.
Referee: John Watson (Colchester)
Man of the Match: Richard NIAL (KELVEDON SOCIAL FC)
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